“So the Bible, Science, & Religion Walk Into A Bar…”

The mention of these three elements together seems to be either: the set-up for some cosmic joke or the creation of a powder-keg waiting to explode.

G.K. Chesterton said, “Private theories about what the Bible ought to mean, and premature theories about what the world ought to mean, have met in loud and widely advertised controversy…and this clumsy collision of two very impatient forms of ignorance was known as the quarrel of Science and Religion.”

Whether it is courtroom battles during the Scope’s trial, debates over “how the world was formed”, or whether or not there is a “gay” gene, we have all been witness to “Science” and “Religion” not playing nicely together. Yet within the constructs of history Science and Religion being at odds with one another is a relatively new phenomenon (it wasn’t until the Enlightenment of 19th Century when Religion distanced itself from Science in a competitive way).

So a couple of questions: Are Science and Religion really at “odds”?

What are the major barriers that keep the Science community and the Religious community from getting along well?

What helpful contributions do these two communities bring to the table?

The Market of Religion

“…the religious tradition, which previously could be authoritatively imposed, now has to be marketed. It must be ‘sold’ to a clientele that is no longer constrained to ‘buy’. The pluralist situation is, above all, a market situation. In it, the religious institutions become marketing agencies and the religious traditions become consumer commodities.”

Peter Berger “The Sacred Canopy”